


actions and traits

by altoverse



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, Gen, Many many spoilers, Multi, also angst lots of angst, and assorted shenanigans, carbies that cause problems on purpose, prepare yourselves for Magic Lore there will be plenty, who needs to concentrate on work when you can be Thirsty 4 Wol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:35:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29235429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/altoverse/pseuds/altoverse
Summary: A collection of snippets (named after various skills) about my Warrior of Light, Asui Borealis. (Not in chronological order, ships and any warnings will be mentioned before each chapter and tagged as they are added)newest chapter: hissatsu: gyoten (4.0 location spoilers)
Relationships: Aymeric de Borel/Warrior of Light, Haurchefant Greystone/Warrior of Light
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	1. table of contents

**Author's Note:**

> instead of plugging bookclub during every chapter im just gonna do it once here. [join us](https://discord.gg/enabling-debauched-xivfic)
> 
> also if you see me vibing on malboro as andie borealis come say hi

new chapters will be added to the timeline as they are posted. please note as a whole there will be spoilers up to the newest patch content. 

**PRE-LEGACY**

N/A

**LEGACY (1.0)**

N/A

**A REALM REBORN (2.0)**

N/A

**HEAVENSWARD (3.0)**

enkindle (ch. 2) 

reprisal (ch. 5, alt scenario)

summon (ch. 4)

**STORMBLOOD (4.0)**

hissatsu: gyoten (ch. 6)

**SHADOWBRINGERS (5.0)**

quietus (ch. 3)

**??? (6.0)**

:) 


	2. enkindle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **enkindle:** commands pet to use its signature attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (3.0 spoilers) ysayle/estinien/kuplo kopp/alphinaud/wol camp before talking to hraesvelgr and the fire gets a little out of hand

Alphinaud's water spell hit the bonfire with a hiss, extinguishing the flames just enough to reduce their cooking fire to a more reasonable size. Behind him, Ysayle angrily put her hands on her hips, glaring daggers at Estinien. 

" _ Small _ fire, Estinien! I said set a  _ small _ fire! This -" she gestured angrily at the smoldering embers lying at Alphinaud's feet - "is NOT small!" 

"Well, it's small now," Alphinaud supplied helpfully. His emerald carbuncle curiously prodded at the charred, steaming branches, while his ruby carbuncle seemed ready to set the whole mountain summit on fire if they were so enabled. "And Asui hadn't put the pot over the fire yet." 

"Don't look at me, Ysayle," Estinien protested grumpily. "I have never seen a fire that I started grow that big." 

Asui glanced up from where she was chopping carrots, having mostly stayed out of the situation due to a mix of trepidation and morbid curiosity. "In Ysayle's defense, I don't think Hraesvelgr would take very kindly to us burning down part of his domain, though the fire did grow a lot faster than we expected. Maybe we're used to smaller, harder-to-start fires due to how cold it is in Ishgard?" 

"You have a point, Asui," Ysayle sighed, toe prodding at the pile of spare firewood Alphinaud had gathered. "But I turn my back for two minutes..." 

"Even I haven't seen a fire grow that fast, kupo!" Kuplo Kopp helpfully supplied, doing a flip in the air before coming to rest on Ysayle's head. "Although moogles don't set fires that often. We mostly eat berries and nuts, kupo." He paused, the pom on his head swaying gently. "Alphinaud? What is your rabbit doing, kupo?" 

"Uh -" Alphinaud turned around just in time to see his ruby carbuncle breathing an experimental puff of fire onto a nearby dandelion. "Spinel, what are you - Aawgh!" His panicked shout was cut short as a sudden gust of wind blew the smoldering dandelion puffs into the air, singeing his coat. 

Asui couldn't resist bursting into laughter as the young Elezen danced around frantically, trying to prevent holes from being burned into his new clothes. Even Estinien was trying to suppress a smile beneath his helmet. Sticking her knife into the rudimentary cutting board, she rounded the fire and sternly knelt down in front of Spinel. "Look, bun, I know you're cold and angry at Alphinaud for it, but this is going too far." 

Spinel frowned at her before hopping into her arms and curling up contentedly.

"Well, there's your bonfire culprit found," Asui smiled, getting to her feet and turning towards Ysayle and Estinien. "A naughty carbuncle." Spinel chirped happily in her arms, remorse nowhere to be found. 

"Just let me set up the damn cooking pot stand already," Estinien groused. "I'm hungry." 


	3. quietus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **quietus:** delivers an attack with a potency of 210 to all nearby enemies. blood gauge cost of 50.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (5.3 spoilers) aymeric/wol, asui rolls up to the lord commander's office in full 2b gear

Aymeric was so immersed in his work that he did not hear the door to his office opening at first. The quiet clack of heels against carpet alerted him to the presence of an irregular visitor, and he looked up to see the Warrior of Light walking toward him. 

Asui slumped down onto one of the chairs near his desk, propping her sword against the wall and throwing an arm over her face as she leaned back in her seat. "Finally, all my pressing issues are resolved, the Scions are back on the Source, and we've even added one to our number. I suppose this means that something will inevitably pop up in the next week or so and I will have to hit it with my sword until it stops." She sighed, shifting her arm just enough so that she could see Aymeric's amused expression. He had long stopped thinking about the meeting notes the House of Commons' speaker had given him to look over, instead opting to give his unexpected visitor his full attention. 

Her black dress was of a style he had never seen before, remarkably different from even the Yanxian ambassadors that regularly darkened the doorstep of the Holy See nowadays. The sleeves, otherwise fitted closely to her arms, puffed out and back inwards at her shoulders, a fringe of lighter gray fabric surrounding her elbows. The outer layer of her skirt was split all the way up to her waist, revealing a dark red layer underneath, and thigh-high leather boots ran up beyond the hem. 

He briefly wondered how far they went before stopping himself. 

"Aren't you cold?" The words were out of his mouth before he realized he had said them. Asui looked at him with surprise before breaking out into a grin. 

"Not really, no," she replied, crossing her legs absently. "I've never really been bothered by the cold." 

That certainly explained some of her stranger clothing choices in the past. 

"You never told me what you decided to name your sword," Aymeric mused, trying to take his mind off Asui's outfit. "Or rename, rather, since Shattered Heart no longer represents it properly." 

Asui sat up upon his inquiry. "Ah! Yes, I've decided on a name." She propped her right elbow on the chair's armrest, absentmindedly flicking at the metallic gold gem set in the hilt. "Hecate. A tribute to a long-forgotten friend." 

"I see." Aymeric considered her sword, seemingly tarnished black and gold from its original silver shine. Asui had explained that was not the case during her last visit - she had consulted both the Ironworks and the Blacksmith's Guild in Limsa Lominsa, and they had both concluded that it was as if the weapon had changed material overnight. 

Aymeric sighed to himself. As much as he would have liked to chat with Asui for the rest of the evening, there surely was another reason she was here. "I assume you come bearing news?" 

Asui shook her head. "No news from the Alliance or the Scions about the war with Garlemald. Seems they've currently taken a larger interest in fighting over the throne." 

"No news from either..." He hummed thoughtfully. "Pardon my bluntness, but then why come here at all?" 

Asui considered him with an expression he could not decipher before looking away. 

"Perhaps I merely wish to spend more time with you," she said quietly, not meeting his gaze. "Unless you have any objection to that?" 


	4. summon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **summon:** summons a caster-type pet to fight at your side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (3.0 spoilers) asui loses her magical abilities post-vault; alphinaud thinks of a way to help her
> 
> is this an excuse for me to expand on ff14 magic lore? absolutely

"What?" Asui's brow furrowed in shocked disbelief.   
The chirurgeon shook his head. "For some reason, the aetheric channels in your body have closed up almost completely. Sometimes we see this phenomenon in mages who have overexerted themselves, as a stress response, but..." He trailed off, trying to find the words. "In my experience, it is something that we have been able to reverse over time, but in your case the response is so severe that I would not attempt it." He fell silent, fidgeting with the end of his wand. "I'm sorry." 

Asui sighed and propped her elbows on her knees, staring at the floor from where she was seated on the edge of her bed in Fortemps Manor. She faintly heard the door shut, then open again as someone else walked into the room. 

"So, he broke the news to you." Alphinaud's voice cut through the fog clouding her senses. 

Asui laughed bitterly, not bothering to look up at the Elezen. "Don't suppose I'm much use now as a Warrior of Light, am I?" She reached out to where her staff was propped against the wall next to her bed, barely noticing the coldness of the metal on her bare hands. "Most I can do to defeat Bismarck now is smash this thing over his head until he surrenders." 

She absently turned the staff over in her hands. Twelve, how she hoped the chirurgeon was wrong. That her ability to do magic was just a short distance away, bubbling beneath the surface and waiting to be unleashed. 

But despite her quiet pleas, the crystal focus at the center of her staff lay dormant. It was as if an important piece of herself was missing. 

_First Haurchefant, and now this..._

She scoffed quietly and opened her hands, letting the weapon fall to the rug with a muffled thump. 

"Look at me, Asui." 

When she did not respond, Alphinaud moved to sit on the ground in front of her, carefully setting her staff aside. "I don't think the chirurgeons were right in saying that your condition was incurable. I'm not entirely sure this will work," he quickly clarified as Asui snapped her head up to meet his gaze, the slightest glimmer of hope in her eyes. "It's mostly theory, it will be a long, slow process, and you'll need to learn to fight in some other capacity while we try this. But when I was back in the Studium, trying to decide what to write my thesis about, I came across an old tome describing the various applications of healing magic. There was a chapter about restoring magical ability which used the practice of arcanima as its base." 

Alphinaud picked up a bag Asui hadn't realized he'd brought into the room, retrieving a grimoire and a small box from among its contents. "I, uh... may have already contacted the Arcanist's Guild in Limsa Lominsa about this field of study, and while they agree that it's more theory than practice, they think it could work." He held out the box for her to take, flipping through the leather and metal bound tome. 

"I don't know how much experience you have with the formulas, but Tataru can also help you with them if you have any trouble. As for the carbuncle summon - " He motioned towards the box in her hands. "A lot of the challenge for new arcanists is imbuing the stone with enough aether to form the body of the creature. Since you currently lack the ability to do so..." He trailed off. "I think it's best if you open that first." 

Asui hesitantly undid the hasp on the front of the box, faintly wondering what manner of contraption the Arcanist's Guild had sent over, but instead was met with a very familiar looking spinel ruby engraved with magical sigils. 

"Alphinaud, this is _your_ ruby carbuncle stone." 

The Elezen nodded. 

"Why not just have the guild send you one?" 

"It's a little more complicated than just imbuing the proper stone with aether," Alphinaud explained. "Otherwise the guild would just do it for their beginner students. There has to be a bond of some sort between the caster and the stone, and while this isn't a perfect match, Spinel knows you well enough that you should at least be able to summon her without too much trouble." He smiled. "Besides, Spinel is fond of you. I asked her - she doesn't mind." 

Asui hesitated. "But you went through so much trouble to get this in the first place, if I remember correctly..." 

"The guild gave me another one, on the condition I share my findings with them," Alphinaud explained. "Aside from that... after everything I've put you through, with the Crystal Braves and my horrible attitude towards Eorzea... I want to help you for a change." He chuckled. "Although you'll probably still end up cleaning up after my mistakes anyway, won't you?" 

"You're already doing much better, if I'm being honest." Asui picked up the carbuncle stone, feeling its warmth in her hand. "How do I go about summoning a carbuncle?" 

* * *

"I think I get the gist of it now," Asui mumbled as she flipped through the pages of the tome. "Although some of the fundamentals I learned on the Steppe are slightly different..." She looked up at Alphinaud, who had moved to her desk chair. "Would it be possible to modify the grimoire?" 

"Well, you can't just write on it. You risk ruining the ink," Alphinaud said hurriedly. "But if you make notes on what differs in terms of formulas and the like, once we have a routine down we can have an alchemist make you a revised copy. Assuming this works at all." 

Asui took a deep breath. "Then let's try it before I get my hopes up too high." She held the grimoire open with one hand and closed the other around Alphinaud's carbuncle focus. 

"Hand open," Alphinaud reminded her. "We don't want Spinel getting stuck."

"Oh, right." Opening her hand, she closed her eyes and imagined the matrix Alphinaud had explained to her in her mind. After the first ring stopped moving, she gently nudged the others into place according to the formulas. The stone in her palm grew warmer. 

Nothing happened at first. 

_Is my magic really that far gone...?_

The weight in her palm vanished. Alphinaud gasped. 

When Asui opened her eyes, Spinel was standing at her feet, ruby tail waving as she looked around the room curiously. 

She felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. 

"It worked..." Alphinaud whispered, as if disturbing the silence would dispel the summon. "It actually worked." 

Asui expected him to pull out a notebook and immediately start scribbling observations, but instead he leapt from the chair and pulled her into an excited hug. "I can't believe it! I thought this would take a few tries, but you've just made an incredible amount of progress!" 

She reached out to ruffle his hair, feeling her lips curl into a smile. "That excited for my success, hm? You really have changed." 

"Ah-" Alphinaud immediately yanked himself away, settling back onto the desk chair. "My apologies. I'm sure that was rather unexpected." 

"Don't think too hard about it." 

Spinel chirped indignantly at her from the floor. "Oh, do you want a hug too?" Asui stood and scooped the carbuncle into her arms, feeling Spinel squirm a little before settling into place. "I suppose I can't just stay shut in here and keep our accomplishment to myself." 

"To the Rising Stones, then?" Alphinaud got to his feet as well. "I have a feeling Y'shtola will be particularly interested in this avenue of research." 

"To the Rising Stones." Asui was already feeling better for the first time in weeks. 


	5. reprisal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **reprisal:** reduces damage dealt by nearby enemies by 10%. 
> 
> an alternate vault scenario where the warrior of light takes the attack instead of haurchefant.

Asui's magical barrier strained against the lance of light that threatened to shatter it, eyes screwed shut with the effort as the ambient aether swirled around her feet. She faintly heard Haurchefant and Aymeric shouting at her assailant, something about the Heavens' Ward - 

And her barrier shattered, aether all but spent as she twisted to the side, trying her best to avoid the beam. 

It didn't hit her chest, but she felt her left side burn as she was knocked backward, sprawling face down against blue and white marble tile. 

She struggled to prop herself up on her elbows despite the pain, barely being able to make out someone leaping onto the airship beside the archbishop. 

"To Azys Lla," he declared, looking down at her with disgust. 

Asui faintly heard Haurchefant desperately calling her name before she slipped into unconsciousness. 

She drifted through an endless void, flashes of memory passing her by as she desperately clawed at their veiled surfaces, searching for a way home. 

_ Home, _ she idly thought as a stray memory of the Steppe floated by her outstretched fingertips, dancing just out of her reach.  _ Where is home? _

The gates of Ul'dah were unresponsive as well, showing no mercy as she sought reprieve within their walls. 

Then, a gentle breeze that just as suddenly gave way to icy winds and freshly fallen snow. She felt a tug in her chest. 

_ Coerthas?  _

Asui slowly opened her eyes. The burn in her side had subsided to a dull ache, wrapped with bandages as it was. She squinted at the thick timbers of the ceiling, trying to figure out where she was without moving too much. 

She carefully turned her head, wincing at the twinge of pain, and realized that she was in her room in Fortemps Manor. It was as she had left it before storming the Vault - books scattered across the desk, staff propped against the wall, closet door slightly ajar. 

The only difference was Haurchefant, fast asleep in the chair beside her as he tightly held her left hand in both of his own, head slumped onto the mattress. 

A huge sense of relief washed over her. 

"You're alive,' she murmured quietly as her other hand reached over to gently stroke his hair. He did not respond, clearly exhausted from his long vigil. 

"Haurchefant," she began gently, nudging his shoulder when he did not respond. "How long has it been?" 

She felt him squeeze her hand as he awoke, head snapping up as soon as he realized her eyes were open. "You-" He swallowed, tears brimming at the corners of his eyes. "You're awake." 

"Of course I am, love," Asui responded as she gently wiped his tears away. "I wouldn't dream of leaving you alone." 


	6. hissatsu: gyoten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **hissatsu: gyoten** : rushes target and delivers an attack with a potency of 100.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (4.0 location spoilers) asui runs an errand in kugane for tataru and gets a little sidetracked
> 
> (i hc that au ra sexual dimorphism varies between xaela tribes and the dalamiq, asui's tribe, does not have much of a height difference between men and women. is this an excuse to make my wol tall? absolutely.)

"Look at that _ijin_ over there - I've never seen an Au Ra woman that tall before." 

There were plenty of Auri travelers milling around Kugane's Bokairo Inn, several of them women, but the comment about her height caught Asui's attention. She glanced over at the speaker, one of several traveling ronin seated at a table on the second floor. 

Yes, she was tall for an Auri woman - she had her Dalamiq heritage to thank for that - but she wished people would stop commenting on it all the time. Hells, sometimes it was even worse than people mentioning that they expected the vaunted Warrior of Light to be taller. She was six feet tall, for Halone's sake. What more did they want?

Her new kinna katana was buckled to her hip - she'd amassed enough aetherpool in clearing out the Palace of the Dead that she could afford to siphon some of it off. The solidified aether weapon was comforting, considering that Alphinaud and the Scions were all but forcing her to take an extended break from her greatsword. 

_I won't take your job stone,_ Alphinaud had admonished her back at the Rising Stones, _but your aether needs to recover, especially since you collapsed after the final battle with Nidhogg. We didn't make this much progress with the new aether therapy techniques just for you to go and undo all our hard work while running around as a dark knight._

The continued whispers from above brought Asui back to reality, just in time for her to notice the innkeeper hurrying over with the paperwork Tataru had asked for. 

"What kind of ridiculous armor is that?" one of the more stuffy-looking ronin hissed. "No shame at all." 

"And she has the gall to carry a katana," another grumbled to his comrades. "Stupid girl probably stole it from someone." 

"Borrowed it from her boyfriend, most likely." They burst out into raucous laughter. "That blade looks far too nice for her to have stolen it without the Sekiseigumi being all over the city looking for it already."

Anger flared in Asui's chest, but she managed to keep it at a simmer as she nodded at the frazzled innkeeper and turned to look up directly as the ragtag group of ronin. They at least had the grace to look somewhat embarrassed as she strode over to them, tucking the sheaf of papers into her bag.

The gossiping ronin most certainly knew she didn't speak Hingan. What they didn't know is that she had the Echo. 

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," she began, letting the Echo translate her Eorzean into Hingan. A few of the ronin flinched as she bowed politely to them. "Forgive me for eavesdropping, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation about my blade." 

"You must have misheard us, girl," the stuffy ronin from earlier grumbled. "We said no such things about your weapon." 

"Perhaps you did not." Asui crossed her arms. "I do not take well to being called a fraud and a thief, however." 

"Pah! What other possibility is there?" the largest and most sake-sodden of the ronin spat. "I know every samurai in training in all of Hingashi, and I certainly have never met _you_ before. Besides, there are no traveling samurai who could possibly have taught you how to wield a katana." 

"You always forget Musosai, Kagumo-san." One of the more sober ronin at the table piped up. "He's certainly not in Hingashi anymore." 

"And I always tell you that Musosai doesn't count!" The big ronin - Kagumo - banged a fist on their table. "That coward, no matter how much he wishes to atone for his misdeeds through redemption instead of death, is nonetheless unfit to be a mentor to any samurai!" 

Asui sighed. "I take it you two are acquainted, then?" 

"That's none of your kami-damned business," Kagumo growled. He squinted up at her. "You weren't trained by that no-good bastard, were you?" 

"Both of us know the answer to that question, don't we?" Asui retorted stoically. "But yes, Musosai was my mentor for a time." 

"If this Auri woman is really his pupil, like she claims..." The stuffy ronin propped his chin on one hand, muttering to himself. "At least this one doesn't indiscriminately murder people as far as we know. And Musosai _was_ an immensely skilled samurai despite his crimes." 

"That means nothing if she isn't any good at wielding a katana," Kagumo argued. "Musosai was gravely ill when he left Hingashi, last I heard - for all we know he could have just given her his katana and dropped dead." He cast a critical eye over the aetheric blade at her hip. "Speaking of katana, that thing doesn't even look solid." 

"I assure you, that is not what happened,"Asui replied, unbuckling her katana from her belt and holding it out to the group with outstretched palms. "You are welcome to try my blade for yourself - if you can hold it at all." 

"Ridiculous," Kagumo shouted, rising to his feet. "What kind of blade cannot be wielded by all who call themselves samurai?" He made a pass for the katana resting in Asui's hands - only for his fist to pass right through the handle. 

"What sorcery is this?" He snarled and grabbed at Asui's katana again, only for the hilt to dissolve into wisps of black smoke the moment his fingertips touched it. 

Asui smiled. "It seems that my blade does not like you." 

One of the other ronin seemed to realize what her katana was made of, hesitantly tugging at their leader's sleeve. "Kagumo-san, I don't think it's a good idea to-" 

"Shut up, will you?" The now incensed Kagumo all but roared, causing a hush to fall over the Bokairo Inn. "If this... this _ijin_ thinks herself a better samurai, then I challenge her to a duel, with the Sekiseigumi as judge. I'll even let her use her illusion toy of a blade. We'll see if she manages to land a scratch on me with it." 

The Sekiseigumi barracks' arena was quickly cleared of equipment, a sizeable crowd gathering at the gates and atop buildings to watch the duel. The ronin who had tried to warn her opponent looked particularly nervous as one of the Sekiseigumi samurai stepped onto the sand between the two of them. 

"The victor will be the first to draw blood." The samurai cast judgemental looks at both of them. "Any attempts to continue the duel after that point or to do further harm will be subject to our authority. Is that clear?" 

"Absolutely," Kagumo growled, unsheathing his katana. Asui merely placed her hand on the handle of her own sword, nodding her agreement. 

"Then, if you are both ready..." The samurai nodded. "Begin." 

Asui did not move as she watched Kagumo shift into the Jinpu stance, clearly gunning to end the duel quickly and brutally. She dodged his first few strikes, backstepping out of range as the Echo showed her where his next attack would land. As the resulting gusts of wind sliced at her armor, she took the opportunity to rush forward, unsheathing her katana and executing a swift slice at the ronin as she came to a stop behind him. 

"What?" Kagumo looked surprised for a moment, Asui having all but disappeared from his field of vision - until his obi gave way. 

"First blood," the presiding samurai stated, pointing to a shallow cut on the ronin's cheek as he scrambled to pull up his hakama. 

"There-" Kagumo sputtered, clearly aware of the snickering from the crowd as he desperately tried to hold his clothes and sense of dignity together. "There is no way you are the better samurai!"

"I never claimed that I was," Asui said coolly, sheathing her sword and waving away the smoky tendrils of aether lingering in the air. "Perhaps your own feelings of inadequacy prompted you to say so." She turned to bow to the Sekiseigumi samurai, who was clearly trying to hide his amusement. "Thank you for humoring both of us today. You have my word that neither of us will cause any more trouble." 

With that, she turned on her heel and strode out of the barracks as the nervous-looking ronin scrambled over to Kagumo, quietly hissing explanations and admonishments at his friend. 


End file.
